Very tempted by these but a new bike is quite far down my list. I did get a brief ride on one in the Alps and it felt amazing. A lot like my Specialized but without the flaws ie flexy forks and musical bottom bracket.

I rave about mine, spec is awesome. I took the plunge and went for the VFM route, came up trumps because I love riding it. However I have nothing to compare it to as its the first FS. Also with sizing it didnt matter, its for DH and I took the biggest one they had because of my gangley legs!

OTOH how often do you get to have a meaningful testride anyway? Most are too short, or somewhere you can't properly try it out, or otherwise hampered, and often they're just not available even for a non-mailorder brand. Not the end of the world I reckon.

Also, the YTs are such ridiculous value, if you don't like the frame you can almost throw it in the bin and use it as a parts donor.

I see what timc means. However no one says 'great bike but its got a really high BB' or 'great bike overall but shock just doesn't feel right'

Loved Steve Jones review of the Wicked and the Rotweld in the same mag. Wicked is a great bike but the Rotweld) is a better bike overall. (2.3k euros versus a 5.5k euros bike). for double the price I'd want to see that insight. Still you could just read what he'd written.

Northwind - Member
OTOH how often do you get to have a meaningful testride anyway? Most are too short, or somewhere you can't properly try it out, or otherwise hampered, and often they're just not available even for a non-mailorder brand. Not the end of the world I reckon.

Depends really, when i bought my first FS Bike in 2008, my lbs got me x8 FS demos, I had most of them for a week, & all for at least a weekend.

Also, the YTs are such ridiculous value, if you don't like the frame you can almost throw it in the bin and use it as a parts donor.

Bought mine when it was €2,400 and still very happy with the value for money. All the parts on it are adequately strong and functional and the frame and forks ride as well as anything I have had before. Used to love my Enduro, but this is much more of an all rounder.
Rode it for a week on the Trans-Savoie and I could not of asked for a better suited bike.

as does the titus el guapo from on-one.
are we seeing any similarities between these companies that differ from, say, orange, or specialized, or anyothermainstreambrandyoucaretomentionthatsellsthroughdealerships?

Wicked 650B is only available in Small, at the moment. When are they likely to have more stock (if at all?). Tho the thing that concerned me with this bike is the top tube seems quite short on the Large model, concerned it might be a bit cramped?

Canyon Spectral looks interesting but shorter travel and 26" wheels not 650B. Their Nerve comes in 650B but again shorter travel and much steeper angles.

I looked late last week and on Monday and they only had Med and Small's. Still concerned by the short TT tho, so will wait until ive ridden something similar before buying. Tried an ElGuap before in Large that felt a bit short, and those are 15mm longer just looking at basic TT lengths (need to find proper reach/stack figures for the ElGuap).